Looking after Yourself and Where to get Help
Where to Get Help
The most important thing is for you to seek help when you need it. This page lists many sources of help and support, together with ideas, hints and tips for getting help and helping yourself. Make sure you read to the end.
There are many sources of information, resources and help available for DPhil students in the University and the aim is to summarise as many as possible here. However it may not be completely comprehensive so do remember that there is lots of help available – more than is listed here.
For most DPhil students, the majority of your time and connections will be with your research group and department, and college – although it may be different for some of you - and help is available from all these places. There are also resources, information and support available at University level, and from the division:
University
- University A-Z of Policies and Guidance
- In particular, Policy and Guidance on Research Degrees
- IT services
- Libraries
- The Language Centre
- The Careers Service
- Equality and diversity
- Counselling Service
- Oxford Students’ Union
- Nightline
College
In your college your Senior Tutor, the Tutor for Graduates or your College Advisor should be available to help.
MPLS Division
- Information for postgraduate students
- Graduate Studies office contacts for both the divisional and your departmental graduate office.
Your Department
If you experience difficulties during your DPhil the first step should always be to discuss the issue with your supervisor. There is also a range of other sources of help:
- Director of Graduate Studies
- Graduate Secretary or Administrator
- Head of department
- Departmental Administrator
- Harassment – Departmental Harassment Officer
Looking after yourself, Helping yourself
There are a lot of things you can do for yourself that will help you progress and help you look after your physical and mental health. The University's Welfare and Wellbeing page is a good place to start.
The University has a range of online courses and podcasts covering topics such as the Imposter Syndrome, Planning your PhD and more. How to Beat the Imposter Syndrome is also covered by the Jobs.ac.uk website.
Vitae have a range of information and advice sheets around this topic:
The Jobs.ac.uk website have some good resources, in particular Seven Top Tips for Resilience
General Hints and Tips
Plan your DPhil project
Develop a project plan for DPhil management – make it realistic, flexible, built of small manageable timebound tasks. See the Time Management section for more tips. Be prepared for your plan to change and aim to review it on a regular basis. Use the MPLS Project Initiation Document which you can download from the page on Supervision and Termly Reporting.
Start planning and writing your thesis in good time – do it in small chunks.
Look after your supervisory relationship
Looking after your relationship with your supervisor will pay dividends. See the section on managing your supervisory relationship for hints and tips.
Balance your time and take holidays
Work to make sure you have a healthy work / life balance, making sure you have time for non-work activity and rest. Negotiate expected working hours with your supervisor if needs be. See the MPLS Division’s Policy on Working Hours and Holidays, available on the page on Your Rights and Responsibilities, for more information.
In general
Keep sight of the bigger picture
Build up a network of support
Keep up non-work interests – sport, music, friends, whatever is important to you
Seek help when you need it